Designing Equipment for World-wide Power
Alex McEachern, Senior Member, IEEE
Alex@PowerStandards.com
Power Standards Lab, Emeryville, California, USA
I. ABSTRACT
With the global economy, it has become even more
important to design equipment that can operate on all the
different electric power systems available throughout the
world. This paper provides a concise list of common
terminology, preferred labeling conventions, and phase
voltages found throughout the world in industrial,
residential, and commercial end-use locations.
II. TERMINOLOGY
We restrict ourselves here to English terminology
employed to describe end-use electric power connections.
We will consider common terms used in American
English, British English, and translated-to-English
contexts.
The power system itself, at the point of end use, may be
called “mains”, “mains voltage”, “service”, “utility”, or
“power line”. In the context of an electric utility, the end-
use voltage may be referred to as “low voltage”; in the
context of the user of the exact same service the end-use
voltage may be referred to as “high voltage”.
“Phase”, “line”, “hot” are all used interchangeably to
designate a non-neutral current-carrying conductor.
“Neutral” (or its literal translation) is almost always used
– it has no common synonyms. It is sometimes
abbreviated “W” on systems that use X-Y-Z terminology.
“Ground”, “Earth”, “Protective Earth”, “PE” (pronounced
“pee-ee”) are all used interchangeably to designate the
conductor that is attached to a chassis for protection.
A range of voltages is generally designated by a tilde
(“~”), while alternate voltages are generally separated by
slashes (“/”). For example, a power supply rated at
“90V~270V” should operate properly at any voltage
between 90V and 270V. In contrast, a power supply rated
at “120V/240V” will operate properly on either a 120V
nominal system or a 240V nominal system, but will not
necessarily operate properly on a 208V nominal system.
Similarly, frequency ranges are separated by a tilde (e.g.
“48 Hz~62Hz”), while alternate frequencies are separated
by slashes (e.g. “50/60 Hz”).
A removable male power connector may be a “plug” or a
“mains plug”. The mating female connector may be called
“socket”, “jack”, “outlet”, or “connector”. Any of these
terms may be modified by “power” or “mains” (e.g.
“power outlet”).
If the power is permanently or semi-permanently
connected, common terms for the connectors include
“lugs”, “spade terminals”, and “ring terminals”. “Box
lugs” generally accept bare conductors directly.
An aside: for crimped power connections, some countries
insist that the crimp be covered with insulation such as
heat shrink tubing, on the basis that it provides both
mechanical support and insulation. Other countries insist
that the crimp be uncovered, to permit visual inspection.
Some countries require ring terminals for power
connections as opposed to spade terminals or box lugs,
because they are less likely to become accidentally
detached.
“Single-phase” and “one-phase” are used interchangeably,
with “single-phase” being the more common term.
“Dual-phase”, “two-phase”, “double-phase”, and “split-
phase” all refer to a center-tapped single phase supply like
that shown in Fig 1E, except in some rare cases where
they are used to incorrectly describe a two-transformer
three-phase system of the type shown in Fig 2D. Just to
keep things confusing, this term is sometimes used to
discuss one phase of a specific type of three-phase system
shown in Fig 2C and Fig 2E.
“Three-phase” and “triple-phase” are used
interchangeably, with “three-phase” being more common.
For the moment ignoring phase rotation and nominal
voltage and frequency, there are at least 7 different three-
phase arrangements used around the world, so “three-
phase power required” is not a sufficient description.
“Y”, “wye”, and “star” are used interchangeably to
designate a three-phase system with a centered neutral
conductor.
“Delta” or “Triangle” are used interchangeably to
designate a three-phase system without a neutral
conductor, or one in which the neutral conductor has no
connection to the equipment.
III. PHASE DESIGNATION AND COLORS
On pure single-phase systems, the three conductors are
almost always designated as “line” or one of the
variations mentioned above, “neutral”, and “protective
earth” or one of the variations mentioned above.
On single-phase systems that are actually one phase of a
three-phase system, the terminology of the associated
three-phase system is generally used (e.g. the three
conductors will be designated L1, L2, and PE). However,
this is an area where labeling mistakes are common – the
equipment may be labeled “Line”, “Neut”, and “PE”, but
it may be perfectly acceptable to run the equipment
between two phases of a three-phase supply. If you are
the equipment designer, try to avoid this labeling error.
Conductor Designation Comments
L1-L2-L3 Universally understood
A-B-C
R-S-T In some countries, an “old-fashioned”
designation but still understood.
U-V-W May indicate the secondary of a
transformer (e.g. Japan) or may
indicate current (e.g. Austria)
X-Y-Z Fairly common in North America
0-4-8 or 8-0-4 or 12-4-8 Indicates phase angle corresponding
to hours on an analog clock (Spain,
Italy)
Red-Yellow-Blue Common designation outside North
America; sometimes abbreviated with
the first letters of the local language
Brown-Black-Purple, Standard local color codes (South
Red-White-Blue, Africa, Austria, etc.) Each country
Yellow-Green-Violet, may have its own color convention,
etc. so it can be dangerous to rely on
color to indicate phase.
Table 1: Common three-phase conductor designations
The protective earth conductor is almost always color-
coded green-with-a-yellow-stripe. However, the color
code for the other conductors varies so widely as to be
almost useless. For example, depending on country and
voltage, the Neutral conductor may be white, blue, or
black. Three-phase conductors may be Red-Yellow-Blue,
Black-Brown-Purple, Red-White-Blue, Yellow-Green-
Violet or a wide variety of other colors. In some
countries older single-phase wiring is blue (hot) and black
(neutral), and newer wiring is brown(hot) and
blue(neutral), so a blue wire can indicate either hot or
neutral, depending on the age of the wiring.
To make things even more complicated, industrial plants
that belong to multinational companies may be
constructed using the color code of their home country
(e.g. a French factory located in South Africa may use
French colors for three-phase wiring instead of South
African colors). And to make things still more
complicated, minor electrical changes in these factories
are often made using the local color coding.
With the exception of protective earth, do not rely on
insulation colors for world-wide applications. Use L1-
L2-L3 to designate the phases, N to designate neutral, and
PE or the standard IEC symbol to designate protective
earth.
III. NOMINAL VOLTAGES
The concept of “nominal voltage” should be treated with
some skepticism, especially in developing countries.
Even in advanced countries, the nominal voltage is
generally regulated at the service entrance (the location
where the electric power is delivered to the building), and
it is often considerably lower at the point within the
building where you are trying to use it. It may even be
considerably higher if a large load has been removed
recently.
The specified nominal voltage is going through a decades-
long change in most countries. In North America, the
nominal voltage has migrated from 110V to 115V to
117V to 120V. Nevertheless, equipment marked “110V”
is certainly expected to work on a 120V outlet. Similarly,
the 220V standard in many parts of the world is migrating
from 220V to 230V to 240V.
The above nominal voltages may be phase-to-neutral
voltages on a three-phase system, so the phase-to-phase
voltages are going through a similar transition (e.g. on a
220V to 230V transition, the phase-to-phase voltages will
transition from 380V to 400V).
There can be dangerous confusion if a split-phase or
three-phase system is referred to with a single nominal
voltage. For example, a 240V three-phase system in
North America is understood to be 240V from phase-to-
phase. A 240V three-phase system in Hong Kong is
understood to be 240V from phase-to-neutral, with 415V
from phase-to-phase.
For this reason, the nominal voltage for three-phase
systems should always be specified either as a pair of
voltages (e.g. “120/208 three-phase”) or explicitly as
phase-to-phase voltage (e.g. “240V phase-to-phase”).
Nominal voltage Comments
100V Generally Japan only
110/115/117/120V Common single-phase voltages; older
equipment and systems may be designated
with the lower voltages.
200V Generally Japan only – may be single-
phase, or phase-to-phase on a 3-phase
system
208V Phase-to-phase voltage on a 120/208 3-
phase system
220/230/240V Common single-phase voltages and three-
phase voltages. Older equipment and
systems may be designated with the lower
voltages. Generally, Southern and Eastern
Europe still use 220V, while most of
western and central Europe use 230. Great
Britain uses 240, but is moving towards
230. Common residential split single-phase
in North America. CAUTION: This voltage
is used both for phase-to-phase and phase-
to-neutral applications.
277V Phase-to-neutral voltage on a 3-phase
480V phase-to-phase system. Commonly
used in North America for single-phase
fluorescent lamps
380/400/415V Phase-to-phase voltage on a system with
220/230/240V from phase to neutral
480V Common North American industrial voltage
– can be single-phase, but more often
phase-to-phase on a 3-phase system
600V Generally Canada only – industrial 3-phase
693V Not common, but occasionally found in 50
Hz industrial regions. 3-phase system with
400V from phase to neutral.
Table 2: Common nominal voltages, less than 1 kV
Typically the voltage is supposed to be held to ±10% of
nominal, when averaged over a relatively long time. In
some countries the range is ±6%; in some countries
+10%/-15%. Remember, these limits apply to long term
averages at the service entrance. The short-term
fluctuations at the load will be much larger.
Fig 1–World-wide Wye and single-phase configurations
IV. NUMBER OF CONDUCTORS – THREE-PHASE
SYSTEMS
A “three-wire” system is always a delta, for three-phase
systems.
A “five-wire” system is always a three-phase system with
separate neutral and earth conductors – but it is not
necessarily a wye system (see Fig 2E).
A “four-wire” system could be almost anything – there is
no agreement on whether the earth conductor should be
counted. So a four-wire system might be a split single-
phase (two phase wires, a center-tapped neutral wire, and
an earth wire), it might be a delta system (three phase
conductors plus an earth conductor), it might be a wye
system (three phase conductors plus a neutral conductor,
with the earth conductor not counted), etc.
When someone describes a system as “three-phase four-
wire”, be cautious. That description could mean almost
anything.
V. FREQUENCY
The frequency on public power networks worldwide is
either 50 Hz or 60 Hz. In large power systems, the
frequency will be precisely regulated to permit power
flow control through the system, so the frequency
tolerance will be very, very tight -- +/- 0.001 Hz or better.
However, at high reliability locations (hospitals, data
centers, etc.) the frequency will be far less stable for
periods of minutes to hours, when the local back-up
generator takes over, either to exercise the back-up
system or to deal with a loss of power (“power cut”,
“outage”, “interruption” are all common terms). Plan on
+/- 5 Hz or so. Isolated systems (remote villages, small
islands, ships, etc.) that are not connected to a power grid
generally have variations in frequency that are
comparable to back-up generators.
It’s worth noting that some UPS systems provide stable
power but at a frequency that is slightly off from nominal.
This permits easy phase-matching when power is restored
– the UPS simply waits for its own phase to match the
restored power phase angle (but to use this strategy, the
UPS frequency must be different than the power
frequency).
VI. “WYE” AND SINGLE-PHASE CONFIGURATIONS
Fig 1A shows the most common three-phase wye
configuration. The line-to-line voltage is 1.73 times the
line-to-neutral voltage (conversely, the line-to-neutral
voltage is 0.58 times the line-to-line voltage). There are
separate neutral and earth conductors, which are only
joined together at the source transformer.
However, it is remarkably common throughout the world,
especially in developing countries or in buildings which
have been wired by inexperienced electricians, to see the
earth conductor being used as a neutral conductor, as in
Fig 1B. In general, equipment design should tolerate, or
protect against, this dangerous but regrettably common
practice.
On simple single-phase circuits, one may find neutral and
line reversed (Fig 1C, Fig 1D). This is very, very common
– equipment should not be designed with an expectation
that one or the other single-phase conductor will be near
earth potential.
It is worth noting that in some countries, the same
conductor may be used for both neutral and protective
Fig 2 – Common world-wide delta configurations
earth. Generally, this is restricted to larger loads (e.g.
when the conductor cross section exceeds 10mm2). In
most countries, this is considered a dangerous practice,
because the protective earth conductor intentionally
carries current. However, it does make EMC problems
easier to solve.
Fig 1E shows a common North American residential
wiring system, with 240V nominal between L1 and L2,
and 120V nominal between L1 and N, and between L2
and N. A similar arrangement can be found on one phase
of a three-phase system such as Fig 2C and Fig 2E. In
any of these arrangements, a break in the Neutral
conductor (or a poor connection in the Neutral conductor
such as a loose screw) can cause up to double the nominal
voltage to appear across the single phase wiring.
Note that the two phases are 180° out of phase with each
other, so this system has no phase rotation.
VII. DELTA CONFIGURATIONS
Fig 2A shows one common delta configuration. Although
there is no neutral conductor, the earth potential is held at
the center point of the delta. Measuring the voltage
between each phase conductor and earth would show 0.58
times the line-to-line voltage on all conductors. One
sometimes finds this configuration used to provide single-
phase voltage with the earth conductor as the return path –
a dangerous practice.
Fig 2B shows a “corner-grounded” delta. Measuring the
voltage between each phase conductor and earth would
show the line-to-line voltage on two of the phases, and 0
volts on the third phase.
Fig 2C shows a “tapped-leg” delta. This configuration
provides three-phase power (e.g. 240V phase-to-phase,
 with 120° phase rotation) and simultaneously provides
split single-phase at 120/240V. Measuring the voltage
between each phase conductor and earth would show 0.5
times the line-to-line voltage on two of the phases, and
approximately 0.87 times the line-to-line voltage on the
third phase.
Fig 2D and Fig 2E are variations of Fig 2B and Fig 2C,
with the advantage that only two single-phase
transformers are required to generate the three-phase
voltage. These configurations are common in North
American agricultural practice, and at other locations
throughout the world where reasonably balanced loads
can be expected.
VIII. SINGLE-PHASE CONFIGURATIONS DERIVED FROM
THREE-PHASE SYSTEMS
It is possible to operate many single-phase loads from one
pair of conductors on a three-phase system. For example,
a single-phase load rated at 100V ~ 240V nominal might
be connected from L1 to L2 on Fig 1A, which – in North
America – could commonly be 208V from line-to-line,
and 120V from line-to-neutral.
Of course, the same load could be connected in a more
conventional single-phase way, by connecting it from L1
to N on Fig 1A. But then the nominal voltage would be
only 120V instead of 208V. Typical voltage sags range
down to approximately 50% of nominal, so the single-
phase load connected line-to-line would sag to 104V and
still be within its specified range, while the single-phase
load connected line-to-neutral would sag to 60V and fail.
Some poorly designed single-phase loads expect one of
their input power conductors to be close to earth potential
(often, single-phase outlets are wired incorrectly, so this
expectation is not met anyway). These loads should not
be connected from phase-to-phase.
However, most single-phase loads do not expect either of
their input power conductors to be close to earth potential,
and can therefore be connected from phase-to-phase
without any problems, and with increased sag immunity
as a benefit.
IX. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE AND CONCLUSIONS
Twenty-five years of working with world-wide electric
power configurations suggests the following rules of
thumb:
1. Even experienced electrical engineers may be
unfamiliar with any power configurations that
are not used in their country. For this reason,
they may make incorrect assumptions about how
to connect equipment that was designed in
another country by an engineer who is only
familiar with that country. (For example,
although the wires and labels are identical, there
are substantial differences between Fig 2C and
Fig 1A.)
2. There is a great deal of confusion about the
difference between Neutral and Earth. In some
countries, experienced electricians talk of these
two conductors as though they are
interchangeable – a dangerous situation, and one
which equipment design engineers should
consider.
3. Three-phase connections labeled “L1-L2-L3” are
universally understood, although there may be
local preference for “X-Y-Z”, “Red-Yellow-
Blue”, etc.
4. 240V 3-phase power comes in two dangerously
incompatible configurations: 240V phase-to-
phase, and 240V phase-to-neutral with 415V
phase-to-phase.
Design engineers who are aware of the wide variety of
power systems, and power systems terminology, will do a
better job of designing equipment that can be used world-
wide.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author gratefully acknowledges the useful advice and
interesting suggestions – not all taken, which undoubtedly will
explain the remaining errors in this paper – from his friends and
colleagues: Emmanuel DEJAEGER (Laborelec Belgium), Prof.
Lothar FICKERT (University of Graz, Austria), Josef FOLDI and
Uwe HALLER and Hassan IRAVANI (all of Applied Materials),
Mark FRANKFURTH and Byron YAKIMOW (both of Cymer),
Walter GEBHART (LEM Norma GmbH), Cliff GREENBURG
(Nikon), Robert KOCH (Eskom South Africa), David MUELLER
(Electrotek), Roger OTT (Electricité de France), Giovanni
VALTORTA (ENEL Italy), Ivo NOVAKOVIC (Tectra Croatia), D
POLIDI (Nanometrics) whose questions got me started on this
paper, Naomitsu SAITO (Tokyo Electric), Georges SIMARD
(Hydro Quebec), John SINCLAIR (Electricity Association,
United Kingdom), and especially Francisco Patxi PAZOS
(Iberdrola, Spain), who always expresses his sensible and
practical ideas in such perfect English that it makes me worry a
little about my own grammar and vocabulary. Thank you all. I
am, of course, responsible for all remaining errors.
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Alex McEachern (M 1984, SM 1996) is
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Appendix C “Worldwide Frequencies and Voltages by
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Over the last 20 years he has taught
graduate-level power quality courses
[2] J.C. Whitaker, AC Power Systems Handbook, CRC
and/or has supervised the installation
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[5] IEEE Standard 1100-1992, IEEE Recommended

Practices for Powering and Grounding Sensitive
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[6] Edison Electric Institute, Handbook for Electricity

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[7] A. Seidman et al., Handbook of Electric Power

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[8] A.J. Pansini, Electrical Transformers and Power

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